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I've been following the Uglyboat Admiration Society Hang Out and have found that a number of cool boats end up on this thread - by accident or design (so to speak).

I thought it might be time to start a dedicated thread for cool boat designs as well.

Of course 'cool' is very much a subjective construct, so I guess some Uglyboats will end up in the Coolboat thread as well. Only fair I guess.

I've long been an admirer of traditional wooden boats and so here's a design by Canadian, Paul Gartside of a 30 foot Cutter, which I dream of having built, someday. Could get a whole lot of modern, light displacement flyer for the same outlay I guess - but it just wouldn't tug at my heartstrings in quite the same way.

She carries a lot of rag for her displacement. Paul has given her a bit more beam in an updated version of the design, so she stands up a bit better in a breeze apparently.

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I saw this really cool boat anchored off Montague Harbour, all his anchors are painted red.

They were good enough to not run their generator while we were anchored close.

Ha, ha. Thanks, Ishmael. This boat is exactly the reason I started this Coolboat thread. She ended up in the Uglyboat thread, I think because a point was made about slack rigging. But, I think we all agree Cresset (launched in 1929, apparently) is a sweet sloop (or is that cutter?).

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If the slack rigging remark is about the jib, thats what you do. Its a flying jib on a wire or spectra luff, probably on a wykham martin or modern version furler of the same type( like a code zero furler). Especially if its the old type which it may well be, they furl better if you dump a little halyard. And at rest ... well its just like slacking off backstay on a modern fractional, takes all the fore and aft rig tension out. Old boats like that , it gives the garboard some time to straighten up.

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Here's another Coolboat. The New Zealand 'P Class' designed in 1923. I pestered my parents until I got one of these when I was 13 or so (a few years ago now) and learnt to sail in her. Spindrift Spy she was called. I forget her sail number, but she is probably still sailing around NZ somewhere.

Many young Kiwi sailors invest a couple of seasons racing these great little boats, before stepping up to other classes.

Big rig for a small boat (Length: 7' 7" - Sail Area: 45 sq ft ), which is more than a handful downwind in a blow.

Don't know who the young guy is, sailing this 'P', but maybe he's on an America's Cup boat by now!

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I have to go with the Bull 7000 - which could frankly fit in the ugly thread too! I have always thought this boat had one of the most clever interior arrangements out there and it looks pretty fun to sail too. I have some reservations about the companionway setup but one of these did the Oregon Offshore a couple times so it must be sort of safe-ish.

This boat gets cooler the more you look at the details - the outboard launching apparatus, the way the interior is integrated with the companionways, the cockpit layout, the 'bullhorns', its all pretty tricky stuff.

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My physical therapist and pal John Bonica in Portland owns Bull or did own it until recently. He loved that boat. But, his knees got the better of him and he bought a powerboat last year. Just sold his Nordic 44 that he had owned for 20 years. He brought his Nordic up the coast every summer.

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Look, SWMBO would not even notice another boat in your shed once you get the SLIVER. She's probably lost count already. Tell her it's the prototype.

I think the PK530 would look very good on you.

One of the marketing decisions of the NAIM hi-fi gear company was to make all the plain, black boxes look almost identical. So you can upgrade components and your wife never sees anything different on the shelf. She won;t remember if there were six black boxes on the shelf or five.

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Look, SWMBO would not even notice another boat in your shed once you get the SLIVER. She's probably lost count already. Tell her it's the prototype.

I think the PK530 would look very good on you.

One of the marketing decisions of the NAIM hi-fi gear company was to make all the plain, black boxes look almost identical. So you can upgrade components and your wife never sees anything different on the shelf. She won;t remember if there were six black boxes on the shelf or five.

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"Look Honey, how could I possibly take you and the boys (be sure to throw "and the boys" in) out on the SLIVER and know you were safe just because Bob Perry says you'll be safe? Really! I have to prove the concept with the prototype to make sure that you are all going to be fine. I doing this for you,,,Honey,,,,and the boys. I have to."

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I think the 31' version is best. We need avoid mission creep. Nice big rig. No engine. None.

Channeling LFH.

Oars? I think LFH mentioned oars (or an oar?) for Rozinante.

JImmy Buffet has a story about why that always take a heap of rations with them when they go sailing on account of how he and some other folks got becalmed in Nantucket Sound for three days and were near dead from starvation before the wind came up and they could finish their voyage over to Martha's Vinyard.

That's the real bits of timber you can see. It was built as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the London 2012 Games. Over 1200 different donations of timber were incorporated into the design as the build went along. Bits of a Jimi Hendrix guitar, HMS Ark Royal, Victory, the Mary Rose, Lively Lady, the Bank of England, plus loads of personal bits and pieces. You can see the hockey sticks and guitars quite easily.

Oh, and it's hit 18 knots downwind....

More here if you are interested - www.theboatproject.com

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The Tejst in the video linked by Veeger is a Swedish D-class sailing canoe built in a fairly modern way. For looks i prefer wooden canoes over glass. The PK520 is boatbuilder Erkki Ruokonens version of some old Finnish sailing canoe...

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I deleted my rude post from last night. re: channeling. Sorry about that.

I've been studying the work of the great designers since I was 14 years old. Can't imagine anyone has done any more of that than I have. So while I may not like the idea of needing to channel anyone the fact is that I probably do it as a reflex now, like blinking, I'm not even aware that I do it. But I'm sure I do. I bristle at the idea that I need to copy anyone and the thought of designimng "reproductions" of traditional boats is not appealing to me. I'd like to think my work is original while acknowledging the fact that I have not originated any single feature. Beethoven loved Bach but you don't hear Bach when you hear Beethoven. I don't. Maybe Paul does. My idea of a "traditional" Perry design is NIGHT RUNNER or the SLIVER.

I've been aware of the Tumlaren for longer than I can remember. It's one of those boats that just wedged itself into my brain and got stuck there. Like a barbed hook. The proportions are just so perfect. Who cares if it is not ergonomic by today's standards. It's testimony to why you can't do accurate reproductions today. Today's sailors want more and are happy to give up aesthetics in order to get it. Pity. Kim is an exception. I had to lean on Kim a bit to get some concessions to comfort. I felt I was making decisions that would benefit long term ownership of the boat and Kim's boys ownership down the road.

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Today's sailors want more and are happy to give up aesthetics in order to get it. Pity. Kim is an exception. I had to lean on Kim a bit to get some concessions to comfort. I felt I was making decisions that would benefit long term ownership of the boat and Kim's boys ownership down the road.

Thank goodness you did Bob! I owe you for that one.

I have decided you were right: the pure pleasure of sailing does need to come with some comfort.

That's the real bits of timber you can see. It was built as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the London 2012 Games. Over 1200 different donations of timber were incorporated into the design as the build went along. Bits of a Jimi Hendrix guitar, HMS Ark Royal, Victory, the Mary Rose, Lively Lady, the Bank of England, plus loads of personal bits and pieces. You can see the hockey sticks and guitars quite easily.

Oh, and it's hit 18 knots downwind....

More here if you are interested - www.theboatproject.com

Thanks for the link, TheBSJ. That's a pretty fascinating build story. A tribute to marquetry and the wonders of epoxy resin. A very unique looking boat.

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I had a read through of this thread and I realise its hard to post a cool boat without going straight back to the standards ... Dorade, Concordia yawl, metre boats, Malabar schooner, Pilot cutters etc etc.

Nigel Irens is always enigmatic in switching between designing high performance multis and retro pilot cutters. He designed a schooner Maggie B built by Covey Island Boatworks which was destroyed by fire in the boat shed (after it had circumnavigated) The owner had Irens design him another schooner to be built by Covey Island and this is the boat they came up with. Quite a `fusion' of tradional and modern. I like it's originality though I'd like to see it in the flesh before I could fall in love..

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I like that Irens design. Can't say it's beautiful but it's not ugly either. I like the functionality of the look and the integration of some traditional styling elements. The cabin trunk is a bit blocky and boring.

Hell, I love just about anything with an outboard rudder.

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I have admired this little guy for a long time. I can't really call her cool and cute is for babies and puppies,but I think it's one sweet little boat.15' Designed by K. Agge Nielsen, in '35,worked at SS at the time. I really like a lot of his designs. Plus Bob it's got an outboard rudder.

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I have admired this little guy for a long time. I can't really call her cool and cute is for babies and puppies,but I think it's one sweet little boat.15' Designed by K. Agge Nielsen, in '35,worked at SS at the time. I really like a lot of his designs. Plus Bob it's got an outboard rudder.

What a sweet little girl! I always did like his designs!

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I had a read through of this thread and I realise its hard to post a cool boat without going straight back to the standards ... Dorade, Concordia yawl, metre boats, Malabar schooner, Pilot cutters etc etc.

Nigel Irens is always enigmatic in switching between designing high performance multis and retro pilot cutters. He designed a schooner Maggie B built by Covey Island Boatworks which was destroyed by fire in the boat shed (after it had circumnavigated) The owner had Irens design him another schooner to be built by Covey Island and this is the boat they came up with. Quite a `fusion' of tradional and modern. I like it's originality though I'd like to see it in the flesh before I could fall in love..

I saw it in the flesh last summer, and I fell in love. I think you would like it as well Bob. The "working schooner" touches are great. Here she is in the Bras d'Or Lakes. The photo may be silly big.

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I'm a sucker for just about anything that K. Aage did. I pretty much owe my canoe sterns to his work. Thanks Aage you crotchity old SOB.

Victor:

aw shucks, you didn;t need to do that. But since you did and since I can be my own worst critic I will say that I think that boat looks great. All it needs is a client. Do you know in Tai Chi there is a warm up excersize called "Pat the back"?

So now that I am immersed in Tai Chi I can pat my own back with amazing dexterity.

Whatch me now,,,,,,hey, pat pat,,,just a little bit lower, pat pat

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NIGHT RUNNER : When I moved to the PNW I trained up a fresh new crew for my J/35. None of the new crew had even sailed before so I'm talking really fresh! On one of our first races, I was explaining PHRF and stuff to them. It was the Anacortes to Hien bank race. Well, here's this old wooden traditional cruising boat out there getting ready to race with us. I used it as an example.

"See that old wooden boat over there? The one called Night Runner, You'll soon see how we can just run right away from something like that. No comparison at all." They all oh'd and ah'd at this, 'Cause the skipper knew his sailing.

Then the race started.

We spent most of the day NOT running away from the fastest wooden crab crusher I'd ever seen! It was like being chased by an angry bear! I'd thought I'd completely lost my touch with sailing. Being so shook I never noticed that no one else was running away from that old wooden boat either.

It wasn't 'till the races results came out that I found that we rated almost even under PHRF. When I questioned the locals about Night Runner they all had a good laugh at me.

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I had a read through of this thread and I realise its hard to post a cool boat without going straight back to the standards ... Dorade, Concordia yawl, metre boats, Malabar schooner, Pilot cutters etc etc.

Nigel Irens is always enigmatic in switching between designing high performance multis and retro pilot cutters. He designed a schooner Maggie B built by Covey Island Boatworks which was destroyed by fire in the boat shed (after it had circumnavigated) The owner had Irens design him another schooner to be built by Covey Island and this is the boat they came up with. Quite a `fusion' of tradional and modern. I like it's originality though I'd like to see it in the flesh before I could fall in love..

She's interesting alright. Not exactly pretty though IMO. That rig is something similar to what I imagine we might see on the AC72's (if the rules were relaxed) but replacing soft sails with wings. The rudder stock looks a might chunky - but that's just being picky.

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I like the idea of the cool boat thread, but the Ugly boat thread has that bit of disagreement, a little conflict, to make it interesting. It's easy to agree on something that's pretty. Some of the ugly ones have taught me a bit about yacht design that I didn't know of before. And some boats are fun to laugh at

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I like the idea of the cool boat thread, but the Ugly boat thread has that bit of disagreement, a little conflict, to make it interesting. It's easy to agree on something that's pretty. Some of the ugly ones have taught me a bit about yacht design that I didn't know of before. And some boats are fun to laugh at

Seems to be quite a lot of cross-over, 'Occams Razor'. Which is a good thing. Take the Maltese Falcon below, for example. She appears in both threads although definitely should be in this one, IMO.

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I have admired this little guy for a long time. I can't really call her cool and cute is for babies and puppies,but I think it's one sweet little boat.15' Designed by K. Agge Nielsen, in '35,worked at SS at the time. I really like a lot of his designs. Plus Bob it's got an outboard rudder.

There is something seriously elegant about that rudder! Fits that a chick is driving with all them mazing curves going on

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I like the idea of the cool boat thread, but the Ugly boat thread has that bit of disagreement, a little conflict, to make it interesting. It's easy to agree on something that's pretty. Some of the ugly ones have taught me a bit about yacht design that I didn't know of before. And some boats are fun to laugh at

Seems to be quite a lot of cross-over, 'Occams Razor'. Which is a good thing. Take the Maltese Falcon below, for example. She appears in both threads although definitely should be in this one, IMO.